Black Tornado boys stave off Axemen

South Eugene made things a bit more interesting in the second half, but the North Medford boys basketball team would not be denied a spot in the Abby's Holiday Classic championship game.

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Posted Dec. 29, 2012 at 1:05 AM
Updated Dec 29, 2012 at 1:20 AM

Posted Dec. 29, 2012 at 1:05 AM
Updated Dec 29, 2012 at 1:20 AM

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South Eugene made things a bit more interesting in the second half, but the North Medford boys basketball team would not be denied a spot in the Abby's Holiday Classic championship game.

And even sweeter for the Black Tornado — they will take on rival South Medford (6-3) for the title today at 6 p.m.

Backed by balanced scoring and timely defensive stops, North Medford held off South Eugene's fourth-quarter surge for a 70-62 victory on Friday at South Medford High.

North Medford (7-1) limited the Axemen (5-4) to just seven points on 15 percent shooting in the first quarter but South Eugene made halftime adjustments to become much more effective in the second half.

South Eugene sophomore star Eli Lininger found his stride in the second half, where he scored 22 of his 26 points as the Axemen continually made it a point to feed him the ball.

"A silky smooth left-hander, he's very good," said North Medford coach Scott Plankenhorn on Lininger. "He's a special player already and he's just a sophomore. It was a chore for us to guard him."

The Black Tornado stormed out of the second half with an 8-0 run that extended its lead to 38-20, but Lininger and the Axemen came alive to match North Medford's 25-point third quarter.

The Axemen clawed within six points in the fourth but, over the final moments, North Medford made the key free throws and defensive stops necessary to secure the win.

"We've been playing pretty well lately but we have a lot of things we need to work on," said Plankenhorn. "Hopefully we find ourselves again (in the championship game)."

Oshea Bailey navigated North's balanced attack with 15 points to go along with eight assists and four rebounds. Tristen Holmes registered 14 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals while Julian Gray notched 11 points, four boards and three assists.

Aaron Browne-Moore and Brandon DeBerry added nine points apiece for the Black Tornado, who went 7-for-10 from 3-point range.

STAYTON 39, HIDDEN VALLEY 35 — At Stayton, Hidden Valley rallied after a 23-8 halftime deficit but came up short in the Stayton Holiday Classic.

Mike Hults connected on all three of his 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help pull the Mustangs to within one point of host Stayton, 36-35, with 90 seconds to go. But the Eagles converted three free throws down the stretch for the final margin of victory.

SUMMIT 54, NORTH MEDFORD 47 — At Bend, senior post McKensey Peters scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds but North Medford suffered its first loss of the season in the Les Schwab Holiday Tournament at Summit High.

The Black Tornado (6-1) plays Liberty High of Hillsboro at 12:45 p.m. today.

The Storm made five of its six 3-pointers and shot 65 percent from the field in the first half to take a commanding 35-15 lead.

North Medford rallied in the second half — outscoring Summit 25-5 — to tie the game 40-all with five minutes to go. But the Storm (6-3) connected on 8 of 9 free throws in the final period to pull out the victory.

MCNARY 60, CRATER 55 — At Lake Oswego, Courtney Setzer had 15 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals but Crater squandered a 15-point first-half lead at the Nike Interstate Shootout.

The Comets (2-4) led McNary (5-5) 35-23 at the half before the Celtics went on a 37-20 run behind Lauren Hudgins and Teresa Peterson, who scored 14 points apiece. Each of McNary's 16 fourth-quarter points were scored at the free-throw line.

Crater, which will play Salt River, Ariz., at 10 a.m. today, also got strong performances out of Becca Heard (14 points, five rebounds) and Britt Scott (nine points, four rebounds, three steals).

ASHLAND 43, NORTH BEND 29 — At Coos Bay, sophomore guard Georgia Williams had 13 points and 11 rebounds as Ashland bounced back from Thursday's last-second loss to advance to the fifth-place game in the Les Schwab South Coast Holiday Invitational at Marshfield High School.

Sophomore guard Hannah Teixeira added 11 points and Sadie Kasiah 10 for the Grizzlies (5-6), who will play North Salem at 10:15 a.m. today.